This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Tonneau covers have been used for a number of years to cover the cargo box of pickup trucks against dirt, debris, and other environmental contaminants and to improve the aesthetic quality thereof. Originally, tonneau covers were designed by upholstery shops and typically made of vinyl covered fabrics or canvas. The material was often doubled over along its edges for added strength and appearance. Male snaps were then attached to the sides of the cargo box of the pickup truck via fasteners, while female snaps were attached along the edges of the cover. Wooden bows were sometimes used to span the cargo box and ensure that the cover remained high enough to drain water. Unfortunately, these covers were sometimes difficult to handle and/or manufacture, and occasionally failed to protect the cargo box.
More recently, foldable tonneau covers are often more desirable in that they conveniently cover the bed of the pickup truck for cargo protection. However, when not in use, the foldable tonneau cover may be folded toward the rear of the passenger cabin (or other location). Generally, foldable tonneau covers include a frame network of cross bows, a tarp or covering operably coupled to and spanning the frame network, a latching system for coupling the frame network to the pickup truck and a means for stowing the latching system, and a hinge system for hingedly coupled adjacent sections of the foldable tonneau cover.
Unfortunately, in many conventional foldable tonneau cover systems, the foldable sections of the tonneau cover are folded from the rear end of the pickup truck bed toward the forward end of the pickup truck bed adjacent the cab into a stacked configuration. In this way, a substantially portion of the tonneau cover remains covering the pickup truck bed when stacked. The size of the remaining portion is typically equal to the footprint, when viewed from above, of the stacked foldable sections. In other words, the size of the tonneau cover system that remains covering the pickup truck bed is typically about the size of a single foldable section, because at least one of the foldable sections is not typically folded away from the pickup truck bed and thus remains in a position concealing complete access of the pickup truck bed.
In order to gain complete access to the pickup truck bed, or at least maximize access to the bed, when using a conventional foldable tonneau cover system, one must completely remove the tonneau cover system from the pickup truck. However, it should be appreciated that full removal of the conventional foldable tonneau cover system is disadvantageous in that it requires storage of the now-removed system either in the bed of the pickup truck, which consumes valuable storage space in the bed, or at an off-truck location, which at a minimum can be inconvenient.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the relevant art to provide a tonneau cover system capable of overcoming the disadvantages of the prior art. Additionally, there exists a need in the relevant art to provide a tonneau cover system having a plurality of foldable sections.